Monovision with contact lenses

One solution is to have your eye care practitioner perform a monovision contact lens fitting. Monovision with contacts can reduce your need for "readers" and is an especially good option if you
are not a good candidate for bifocal contacts.

How Monovision Works

With
monovision, you wear a contact lens on one eye to correct your distance
vision and a contact lens on your other eye to correct your near
vision. The lens for distance vision is usually worn on your dominant eye.

With
monovision, the eye that sees well for distance vision will be slightly
blurred up close and the eye that sees well up close will be slightly
blurred when looking at distant objects. But with both eyes open,
typically the result is acceptably clear and comfortable vision at all
distances.

Therefore, the term "monovision" is somewhat
misleading. The two eyes still work together as a team so you can see
clearly at all distances; it's just that one eye sees more clearly than
the other at a certain distance, and the "stronger eye" will depend on
whether you are looking at something far away or up close.

Though
monovision might sound difficult to adjust to, most people adapt to it
easily and don't even notice which eye is their "distance eye" and which
is their "near eye" when both eyes are open.

Variations Of Monovision

Depending on your daily visual demands and how you respond to monovision with contact lenses, your eye doctor may recommend a variation of monovision to best suit your needs. These variations include:

Mini-monovision In this variation, a less-than-typical magnifying power is added to the near vision lens. Mini-monovision often is an excellent solution for people who find that standard monovision does not give them the sharp distance vision they desire, and they don't need to do a lot of close-up work (or they don't mind wearing reading glasses on occasion).
A good example is someone who spends much of their day driving and
little time working on a computer or reading, but wants to be able to
read a menu without prescription glasses.
Though a person with mini-monovision may need to use reading glasses more frequently than someone who has standard monovision, he or she will be less dependent on readers than a person wearing regular (distance) contact lenses in both eyes.

Modified monovision In this variation, a single vision
contact lens is worn on the distance eye and a bifocal contact lens
is worn on the near eye. Modified monovision, like mini-monovision, can
provide sharper distance vision than standard monovision, while still
providing acceptable near vision without reading glasses for many
close-up tasks.
The distance power of the bifocal lens also can
be adjusted to provide sharper vision at arm's length for tasks such as
computer work.

The Limitations Of Monovision

The
downside of monovision is that some people find it compromises the
clarity of their distance vision too much, making distant objects appear
slightly blurred.

Others find monovision doesn't provide adequate near vision to give them the freedom from reading glasses they were hoping for.

Also, although the two eyes still work together as a team in monovision, binocular vision

is slightly compromised, which can cause a slight decrease in depth perception.

Cost Of Monovision Contact Lenses

In standard monovision and mini-monovision, conventional single vision contact lenses — including disposable contact lenses
— are used. Because these are less expensive than multifocal contacts,
lens replacements will cost less. Even modified monovision will save you
money on lens replacements, since a bifocal contact lens is worn only
on the near eye.

But fitting monovision contact lenses is more
complex and generally takes more office visits than a regular contact
lens fitting. This is because even slight changes to the contact lens
power on either eye in monovision can make a significant difference in
the wearer's visual satisfaction, and each modification of lens power
should be followed by several days of lens wear to see how you adapt to
the change.

Therefore, the fitting fee for monovision usually is
higher than the fee for a standard contact lens fitting. Many eye care
professionals charge the same for monovision contact lens fittings as
they do for bifocal contact lens fittings, which could be twice the fee
for a standard contact lens fitting or even more.

Surgical Monovision Options

Prior
to any surgical monovision correction, it's smart to "test-drive" the
concept with contact lenses beforehand. Generally, a two-week period of
wearing monovision contact lenses will give you a good idea of how well
you will do with permanent surgical monovision.

For more
information about the pros and cons of monovision versus bifocal contact
lenses for your particular visual needs, see your eye doctor for a
consultation and possible trial fitting.